Pulling Her Down
by aishiteru-inu
Summary: Completed! She has 'sat' InuYasha many times in the past, so what would happen if she was brought down with a 'sit? Please R&R.
1. Pulling Her Down

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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of InuYasha, even though he owns my heart. I do not seek to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. This story is only a fanciful musing from a person that totally adorns the characters and story as it is.

My own writings have always been private and only for myself, but since discovering all the stories of InuYasha, I have gotten the urge to share my own story lines with everyone out there. I hope that I have been able to capture your attention with my writing of the stories that I'm sharing with you, to encourage for more. Your opinions and thoughts -- as always -- are very appreciated. Please be kind if there is something critical you have to say.

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Note: This story was/is? a section that I had written to be a part of another story I have, **"**Same Thing, Different Time**"**, but the story line isn't far enough along for this part -- or it may not even be put it in there -- and I couldn't hold on to it any longer. I intended this to be a one-shot, but I felt it was too long to put all in one chapter, so this 'one-shot' will actually be in at least 2 parts if people like it enough to want the rest of it. Sorry.

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Pulling Her Down

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 1:

InuYasha had just grabbed a hold of her upper arm the same time she said 'sit'. At the tug of the necklace, his grip unconsciously tighten and when he went crashing down into the ground, he unwittingly pulled her down along with him. It took several moments before he could raise his head, and when he did, he had something angry ready to say upon his lips, but then his eyes caught sight of the downed girl beside him. He started to laugh.

His grin was from ear to ear seeing her like that, and, of course, he changed what he was going to say to, "Now you know what it feels like!" and continued to laugh.

Kagome laid there prone against the ground, trapped by his hold and his arm that had hers underneath it. There wasn't anything she could do to free herself, and until his subduing spell wore off enough she was trapped against the floor as he was. All she could do at the moment was feel the pain in her face, taste the blood in her mouth, and listen to InuYasha laughing. 

Slowly, she shifted her other arm around the top of her head to allow her forehead to rest against it as her hand slid underneath the strands of her hair that was spilled out around the side of her face. She laid there trying to keep herself silent and still, but the latter was a lost cause because her body trembled slightly as she suffered with the pain and quietly cried.

The hanyou had seen her move her arm around her head, but laughter suddenly died when she just laid there. Three different scents assailed him all at once, and each one tore him up. One was her blood, the other was the salt from her tears, and the last one…was that she was in pain. A lot of it, and he could feel her underneath his hand as she tried to concealed the quaking of her body.

"Ka..Kagome?" 

He was in shock. He didn't think. He hadn't given it a thought, as he laughed and mocked her, that she would be hurt going down like that. It wasn't the same as it was for him. He was at least half demon, and although it wasn't a 'wonderful' feeling, and he might get his brain a bit rattled, it never hurt him……not like it would her. 

"Ar--Are you alright?" The words hurt his throat as he said them, already knowing that she couldn't be, and there wasn't a thing that he could do except stare at her. "Kagome, please… I'm sorry. I… Please don't cry. It's Ok…"

It's OK? Lame words! But he didn't know what else to say. He wanted to give her arm a squeeze, offering a weak replacement for not being able to do anything else, but his grip was already tight enough. She'd probably have bruises because of it, but he didn't have control enough to release her either.

"Please, don't cry…" he repeated again, his voice ached with a mournfully low tone, then laid his head back down, his cheek pressed against the ground while his golden eyes watched her unblinkingly.

"Kagome," he whispered. "please…"

Kagome became aware that the spell was wearing off when the hold on her arm slackened. He was still unable to rise, but she, on the other hand, was able to move and pull herself from under his arm and out of his grasp. Yet it was not without consequences. His claws, not fully able to retract them out of the way, slid across her, and InuYasha was more than acutely aware of what they did as she drew away from him.

The new injury was of no concern, mattering little compared to pain she felt elsewhere, as she moved the hand of the arm that had been captured, directly to her face. Slowly, she pushed herself up and back into a sitting position, with her butt on the ground and her bent legs against her to either side like a 'V'.

When she stirred, InuYasha lifted his head and noticed the blood starting to stain the white of her torn sleeve. He could not see her face as it was hidden by the curtain of her hair, but when she moved back he saw the small pool of blood where her face had been, and then the trail of dark splotches on the earthen floor that made a path away from it in the direction that Kagome went.

His immediate instinct was to go to her. He tried, only to realize he was still glued to the ground. 

He turned his head, as far as he could, to see her. She sat there with her hands cupped against her face, eyes squeezed shut, and under them were tracks of tears running through the smudges of dirt on her cheek. His chest constricted as he also noticed a stream of blood that made a spiraling course around her wrist to the front side of her arm on its downward path.

"Kagome," InuYasha groaned, straining once more against his invisible bonds. He renewed his struggle a bit more forceful baring his teeth and taking his eyes away from her, momentarily, to squeeze them shut, as if a simple jester as that would aid his strength. The effort was futile as the spell wasn't going to allow him to budge.

He returned his gaze just in time to see her open her eyes. She didn't -- wouldn't -- look at him, but he saw the stark pain that was in them nonetheless, and an involuntary, but short, low howl rose from his throat. She still did not pay him any mind, nor did she even look at her hands to see the evidence of the damage upon them as most people would do. Instead, she cast their gaze over to the door that was slightly off to the left of her.

Keeping the hand that shielded her from his sight over her face, Kagome dropped the other to the ground to assistance in pushing herself up to stand. The sight and smell flooded his senses, and if she still had not noticed that her palm and wrist were covered with blood, the hanyou most certainly had.

"Kagome," was all he seemed to be able to say, but her name was strangled as it rose from his throat.

She got up and stood there a moment to steady herself, then proceeded to walk with awkward stability. She sagged briefly against the door frame.

"Kag…" he only got out barely louder than a whisper before she managed to push herself away and disappeared outside.

InuYasha didn't think he ever strained so hard in his life, even more so than he had those first few times she had 'sat' him. He needed to get to her, he needed to see about her, but his struggles were to no avail. The charm would only release him when **_it_** was ready and no sooner. But just because he couldn't move didn't mean he couldn't hear every word within range that transpired out of his sight.

First there was a sharp intake of breath, followed by the resonance of the monk as he uttered with concern, "Oh, Gods", along with "what happened?"

InuYasha could only close his eyes against it, but what good was that when it was the ears that could hear.

He heard Kagome's trembling reply of, "I--I fell" and nothing more than that. No 'that bastard', or 'that jerk', or even 'that asshole' -- just 'I fell'. Then he heard her give a sharp painful cry, and the monk saying, "It's not broken though."

**_'Oh, Gods,' _**The hanyou's mind cried out as he felt a painful rip within his chest hearing her soft whimpers now that she was away from him. He could still smell the salt of her tears, visualizing her trembling body….

"Let's go clean the dirt and blood from your face."

He had not screamed or yelled, yet his voice sounded hoarse even to his own ears as he issued her name once more from his lips, then, with eyes still closed, he dropped his forehead back against the ground.

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InuYasha rushed out of the shack, his head turning, eyes searching until they finally came to rest on the girl and the monk a short distance away. She was sitting on the large, unearthed root of a tree while Miroku knelt in front of her, one knee upon the ground, wiping and dabbing at her face. 

The hanyou stood and watched for a moment, seeing that the monk was more concerned about the care he was giving Kagome than he was to take advantage of the situation to grope her. The guy might be a pervert, but when it really came down to aiding his friends, he _was_ a real decent guy. Yet, even though he was glad that the houshi had been there for her, a feeling of unwarranted jealousy stabbed at him.

That infuriating voice which would pop into his head, every now and then, kept repeating, **_"You caused this. You hurt her."_** and he couldn't help but flinch because of it.

"You might have a bit of a shiner on you come tomorrow," InuYasha heard as he approached the two, seeing the other man putting the finishing touches on the bandage around her arm, which had the sleeve removed to the point just above it.

When he finally stood there, Kagome kept her head down and off to the side, not willing to look up at him. He hunkered down beside the two, his gaze never leaving her face…of what he could see of it. He didn't need to look at the monk to know that he was suppressing his ire, though he never knew the monk to ever speak loud or spiteful even in his anger. But Miroku wasn't his concern: the girl was.

"Are you alright," he asked quietly receiving just a brief nod in response, still not able to look at him.

Almost as if he were asking the hanyou if it were true, or if there was something more to it, Miroku said, "She says she fell", but the reply he got was "I know" and nothing more.

"Kagome," The houshi heard the unusual gentleness in the half demon's voice. "Let me see…"

She shook her head as a new spring of hot tears slid from underneath her lashes and down her cheeks, but InuYasha was persistent. "Please,… let me… see how bad…"

She would have shook her head again, only a hand gently cupped her chin. She resisted at first, but then allowed her face to be turned toward him. She did not see the conflict, which showed in his eyes, dimming their otherwise golden glow, nor the expression he made when he saw the real damage that was done.

Her nose was red and a bit swollen and there was still some blood encrusted around one nostril. Her bottom lip was slightly swollen too, and there was an angled gash across it where it had split when she landed against the ground. There was also a skinned bruise that was clearly starting to make it's way out high upon her right cheek bone. And on top of that her face was wet, not from the water that the monk had used to clean her with but from the tears that coursed their way down and onto his hand. 

At first she wouldn't look at him, keeping herself hid behind those lashes, and, if he thought looking at her injured face caused him to ache, he wasn't prepared for the look in her eyes when she raised them to his own. The look of her pain and self consciousness in those expressive chocolate rich eyes he loved so much was more than he could bare. His mouth drew into a thin line, which indicated how angry he was, but his eyes revealed an altogether different emotion, as their dull gaze expressed how much it bothered him to see her like this. He dropped his gaze only to catch sight of her bandaged arm which showed signs of blood seeping into view.

Blood. He still had flicks of blood on his claws, which he had forgotten about in his urgency to get to her. Her blood, and the sweet stench of it rose up to his nose. 

InuYasha made a grimacing face, and he stood up and stepped back away from her at the same time. He needed to wash the blood off. 

**__**

'You did this.'

'Shut up.'

'You hurt her.'

'I said, shut up.'

'Look at what you did to her,'

'No.' Feeling her searching gaze, he turned his face away. 

**__**

'Look at the damage you did and remember you laughed at her.'

'That was before I knew…'

'Does it really matter? She still was hurt. And her blood is on your hand too.'

'Just shut up.'

'You hurt her.' The voice continued to accuse. **_'You hurt her. You hurt her. You hurt her….'_**

'Shut the hell up!' He deepened the scowl on his face, and took another step back. **_'I'm sorry, Kagome. ('You did this.') I didn't… ('You hurt her.') I didn't mean…'_** but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth. An instant later he bounded away from there, away from her.

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Important Note Before Anything Is Commented About: It's InuYasha 'retracting' his claws. IF YOU want to think of them as literally being 'retracted' that's up to you. I, on the other hand, actually was thinking of him 'retracting' them as in moving them out of the way, lifting them up, because so far I hadn't seen InuYasha withdrawing his claws to make them shorter except when changing from demon form to hanyou or to human.

So what did you think? 


	2. Self Reproach

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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of InuYasha, even though he owns my heart. I do not seek to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. This story is only a fanciful musing from a person that totally adorns the characters and story as it is.

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Pulling Her Down

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 2: Self-Reproach

InuYasha crouched at the edge of the water. He shoved his hands into the sandy grit of the dirt, using the abrasiveness as a scrub to aid in cleansing his nails and hands: to rid himself of her. 

The blood was already long gone, having washed away the first time he plunged them in, but he couldn't seem to stop. Again and again, he stabbed his fingers into the ground, feeling the need to get them cleaner. 

"Damn filthy hands! Hideous claws!" He spat with accusing disdain. "Stupid, Baka! She wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place if you hadn't pulled her down! Why couldn't you have let go of her? Why did you…"

He slammed the watery ground with his fists and moved away from the bank in disgust.

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Kagome needed some time to be alone, needed some time to think. She had wanted to go find InuYasha to see about him. Well, at least a part of her did, the other part just wanted to go into seclusion for a while, and it was the latter that finally won out in the end. Hence her solitary walk. 

Through the field she went, in the direction of the mountains that loomed in the foreground. She did not go a far distance from the security of the shelter that they had found, or the protection of her companions, but far enough to give her the solitude she sought for the time being. She walked until finally choosing to settle herself by a rogue tree, -- a loner itself, -- standing without the company of any others nearby. It seemed to be the perfect place to be. 

Kneeling down beside it, she placed the small pot of cool water that she had brought on the ground next to her. She dipped the now warm cloth into its water to renew its coolness, then wrung it out, letting the excess fall from whence it had been drawn. 

Folding it to the size she wanted, Kagome then placed it upon her throbbing lip, which felt like it was growing larger with every pulse. She winched a little as the roughness of the material settled against the raw wound on her lip, but the coolness started to sooth the ache. As the throbbing lessened, she leaned against the rough bark of the tree and lost herself in her own thoughts.

Just as before, she wanted to seek InuYasha out, but she just couldn't…… She couldn't face him, especially not the way her face looked right now. It was bad enough that he had insisted looking at her a while ago, and what a horrible sight she had to be, that's for sure! She had tried to keep her eyes down just so it didn't seem like he was taking in every detail that marred her face, but the burning gaze of his inspection only made her intensely aware that he was there. 

Even though thoughts of how she looked did enter her mind, her self consciousness wasn't one of total conceit.

She knew the expression he must have been met with when she unveiled her eyes to return his gaze. There was no hiding the tears that still sprang from them, nor disguising the pain that they reflected; he took it all in, and whatever she may have felt for herself was rivaled by the expression she saw upon his face. She could just as well have been slammed down onto the ground again, and it couldn't have phased her much more than seeing the emotions he was going through.

He tried to mask it with the scowl he puts on to hid from people what he felt inside, but he couldn't conceal it from his eyes. He was hurting terribly over what his actions had done to her, and then he had flung himself away to deal with that knowledge on his own, alone.

She knew that what had happened wasn't his fault. She didn't blame him for it either. She just……wasn't able to say anything to him right then as she reeled with something else more than just embarrassment and the pain in her face. Whatever InuYasha may have seen in her eyes, she knew that he had missed the one thing that had added to her suffering. Her humbled humiliation.

Kagome realized that even though he had laughed at her about it, maybe he was right; maybe she got a good taste of what he felt every time she 'sat' him. It was when he laughed and mocked her that she wondered if this was indeed what he felt. She never really gave a thought about it before. It just never seemed to really phased him, or rather it never seemed to hurt him like it did her. She never saw him gashed open or bleeding, maybe his brain a little rattled, but not like what she experienced. He would get up snapping mad at times, or just brush it off like nothing had happened, but would he hide the fact that it hurt him if it did? 

**__**

'Yes,' the answer came to her mind, **_'he would.'_** He always hid it if it hurt. It didn't matter if he got punched, or cut, or stabbed, -- or anything -- he would always say, 'It's nothing' or 'Don't worry about me'. So why would getting 'sat' be any different?

That's where her humility came in, knowing that he took it and wouldn't say it hurt. He was too protective of his weaknesses to leave himself open. How could she never have thought?

Somewhere in the distance, she heard it. The strange wailing sound, that vibrated through the air. It was a mournful, heart wrenching resonance, long and even in it's pitch. It brought tears to her eyes as she felt the sadness expressed in it's tone. 

Only a demon could make that strong and length of a howl.

"Is that you, InuYasha?" Kagome whispered as she pressed her head against the rough bark of the tree she leaned against, closing her eyes.

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InuYasha sat near the base of a tree with his legs drawn up as close as he could get them; his arms encircled around the knees, while his forehead rested upon his forearms. 

Just a few feet to his right, was another tree -- with the emphasized word being 'was', as now it laid in shredded pieces upon the ground. 

After moving away from the waters edge, his pent up frustrations had him pacing -- or more to the effect of stomping -- back and forth along the banks of the stream. He kicked at anything that dared lay in his path, and at times, his steps were a bit more violent as he scuffed and scarred the earth with his feet and smaller talons of his toes. 

His mind taunted him with the memories of how he had laughed at her, of how funny he thought it was to see her sprawled on the ground like that. It played through his head like some sick joke over and over, and what made it even worst were the visions of the blood dripping down, slamming into the dry dirt, splashing upward and out until they came to rest in a crimson splay on the ground, visions of her dirty, tear streaked face as she tried to hid it from his view, and visions of her swollen face, marred by that one inexcusable act! All the while, the little voice in his head continued to mock him about how he had hurt her…… his 'friend', his companion, his…… 

He squeezed his eyes tightly shut momentarily as his head jerked to one side with loathing. What could he ever call her now? 

He _tried_ to excuse himself for the laughter and joking, because he hadn't realized that she was hurt at that time. He _tried_ to excuse his claws for cutting her, because she had been the one to pull away before he could safely lift them up from her, too. But then…he should have been concerned if she was hurt first, before the laughter, and if he had released her when he heard the word, or at least felt the tug, she wouldn't have cut herself either. He understood why she couldn't wait to extract herself from him. She couldn't lay there hurting like she was any longer, bleeding like she was.

What he couldn't understand was that he had tightened his grasp upon her at that moment, almost as if to deliberately pull her down with him.

Is _that_ what he did? Did he _mean_ to take her down with him? Had he subconsciously wanted her to get hurt? 

He swore to protect her. Even at the cost of his own life, he would do all he could to keep her out of harms way. Yet, within an instant, he destroyed that vow, and it wasn't that he had failed against some unknown monster either. He had failed her against himself! He made his word a lie!

With a sudden rush of energy, wanting to strike out at himself more than at anything else, InuYasha growled furiously and jumped up into the air. There wasn't much else to appease that need than what was there around him, and with a partial body spin, slashing with his claws, he destroyed the first thing at hand. 

Poor tree didn't have a chance, standing there as it was. It's tall stature gave way to its wound and began to topple over, but InuYasha wasn't finished there. He struck out again and again, tearing into the still falling tree, splintering the wood. Branches, leaves, and pieces of the trunk and bark flew in a scattered disarray on the ground. He landed amidst the destruction; it hadn't helped. Now, he also felt a defeated loss. 

The hanyou flung himself away, only to come to rest where he was now. But before he drew himself into the position he was presently in, InuYasha had landed on all fours with a conflict of emotions still struggling within him, which finally released in a pitiful howl of pain and regret.

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InuYasha raised his head a bit. Only enough that his chin rested against his knees and his mouth was pressed against the side of his forearm. He stared out across the darkening water. Simultaneously, Kagome leaned heavily against the trunk of the tree where she was at, holding a freshly cooled cloth against her face. Her eyes trained upon the encroaching shadows streaking the distant mountains before her.

Each were in their own thoughts. 

**_'Kagome,…'_**

'InuYasha,…'

'I wish that you could hear me.'

'I wish that you could hear me.'

'I wish that you were here with me so that I could be with you.'

'I wish that you were here with me and let me be with you.'

'But I'm afraid.'

'You don't need to be afraid.'

'I don't know how to tell you.'

'You don't need to say anything.'

'I want to tell you that I'm sorry.'

'I already know that you are sorry; I seen it in your eyes.'

'I want you to forgive me.'

'I want to let you know I forgive you, but can you ever me?'

'I didn't mean to pull you down.'

'I know you didn't mean to pull me down.'

'I know that I'm to blame.'

'I don't blame you for what happened.'

'It was my fault that you were hurt.'

'It was an accident that I got hurt.'

'How can you ever look at me again for what I did?'

'How can I ever look at you again for what I've come to realize?'

'How can you ever want to be near me again?'

'How I wish I could be near you now.'

'I wish I could take you in my arms and hold you close against me…'

'I wish that you would take me in your arms so that I could lay close against you…'

'…and let you know that I wouldn't hurt you.'

'…because I know that you won't hurt me.'

'My chest hurts so bad, knowing what I did. It's hard to breathe.'

'My heart aches so much, knowing that you're hurting.'

'I need you to still want me to be with you.'

'I still want to be with you.'

'Gods, I'm so sorry, Kagome!'

'I'm sorry, too, InuYasha.'

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Yes, you're going to be upset with me, because I'm going to extend this to one more chapter. BUT only one more.

**NOTE:** Before comments are made, please be aware again that I said this story was taken from the one I'm writing, "Same Thing, Different Time", because I didn't know IF I'd get this far with it or IF I'd even use it. So there are going to be differences from the original story of INUYASHA. One of those being in Kagome's thoughts, which she doesn't mention about him getting hurt by things falling on him when she's 'sat' him other times. I didn't/haven't gotten around to something like that happening in my story so that's why it's not in this one. I was going to try to add it anyway, but it took me off from the flow I wanted so it was removed. So this piece reads as it is. But if you wish to use the original story of INUYASHA as a setting for this piece, by all means do, just excuse me for the oversight.

I REALLY want to THANK all the people that read and reviewed the first part of this story. Daisy-chan*Mistress of Evil; jschu25; lindy*girl; mkh2; BluE-RavE-Girl; jamethiel1; sweetdaeth; gamergal20; screw you (ahem but that's their ID); and BES. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I VERY MUCH appreciated all your comments that you made, and I am very glad that you enjoy the work that I do. 

But, alas again, I hope that this second chapter does the first justice, so what did you think about this one? I hope their thoughts weren't too lame. 

P.S. - just hang in for one more, sweetdaeth.


	3. Tell Me To Sit

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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of InuYasha, even though he owns my heart. I do not seek to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. This story is only a fanciful musing from a person that totally adorns the characters and story as it is.

Ok. This is it…the long awaited chapter, which I had posted briefly and removed. I'm sorry for the inconvenience to everyone, but I wasn't satisfied with what I put out before. Something just didn't seem right with the other one. I felt 'rushed' even after taking so long to put it on the site and know it wasn't as good a job as you all say I do. I appreciate ALL the reviews that I did get from the chapter the brief time it was up. I DO hope that you enjoy this version of the chapter much better for having to wait. I DID make a lot of revisions to the story. I promised you chapter 4 before, and hopefully I'll be able to keep that by having it up by…(on)… the weekend.

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Pulling Her Down

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 3: Tell Me To Sit

InuYasha appeared, as if from nowhere, just off to the side and slightly behind Kagome. Sango was there with her, but he really hadn't expected anything else from the demon exterminator than to be there for her friend. They were like sisters, maybe even closer than sisters, and they had a habit of confiding everything with each other. It put him a little ill at ease wondering just what the other girl thought of him now.

He gave himself a mental snort; worried about what yet another ningen (human) thought of him, and yet… a few things _were_ starting to matter. The more he was around these people, a little bit more of him opened up inside, it was just that he wouldn't show it.

The instant his presence was visible, Sango looked up, past her injured friend. She gave the hanyou a curious guarded look for a moment or so before dropping her gaze back to Kagome. 

They all knew the heated arguments that InuYasha and Kagome would have at times; usually it was by some fault of InuYasha, whether directly or indirectly, but never had they seen him ever hurt her. Bellowing, name calling, stomping around,…the sits. Eventually, it wound up with Kagome leaving for a few days, but that was always the extent of it. 

As gruff and intimidating as the hanyou could be, and as easy as it was for him to be able to hurt her, when it came to her friend, he more than showed many times over how dedicated he was in protecting her. Still, the marks on the young miko's arm were made by the hanyou's claws, and she found it hard to believe what had happen to Kagome was of her own fault. But her friend ardently insisted that he was not to blame for it.

Mixed emotions emanated from the girl, but, despite that, InuYasha did not sense anything that revealed any animosity toward him. He felt a little more at ease, knowing whatever transpired between the two didn't have him running for cover. The dark haired taijiya (exterminator) wouldn't have had any qualms about chasing him down and giving him a good swipe with her boomerang, if there had been.

"Kagome-chan," Sango spoke softly as she rose to her feet, her friend's eyes following her upward direction. "I will see you back at camp later." 

She gave another fleeting glance toward InuYasha, and then left her friend in the company -- and protection -- of the hanyou.

The pressure that had weighted him down, lifted somewhat, since there had been no altercation or lecture from Sango. In fact, she had departed just as she would if there wasn't anything the matter……but…that was her, not Kagome. 

He felt something constrict in his chest and tighten in his stomach, as he vividly remembered the reflection of pain that was in her eyes right before he ran off. He also couldn't help the grimace that washed over his face, as he dealt with the realization that he had caused it. Would she ever forgive him? Could things ever be all right between them? 

After a dozen more questions and doubts ran through his mind, InuYasha knew he couldn't just stand there, contemplating what to do. He _knew_ what he had to do.

Squaring his shoulders back, he moved until he stood in front of her, and awaited anything that she may say or do, awaited to be sat at least a dozen times or so, awaited for her to…… just…… raise her head and look at him.

"Kagome," he breathed her name hoarsely. He needed to tell her how sorry he was for having hurt her. He so much wanted to make things right with her, whatever it took, whatever she wished, yet, other than saying her name, he was afraid to venture further because, then, he would have to deal with the consequences that much sooner. Yes,… damn it,… he was afraid of hearing her rejection and disgust of him.

**_'Please, just look at me.'_ ** He couldn't help but to mentally beg her, for the longer he stood there, the more he feared that she didn't want to see him at all, ever again. _'**Please.'**_

At the slight indication of movement, InuYasha realized that he had been holding his breath, praying, willing her to cast a glance up at him, but then his ears lowered somewhat, feeling a bit of defeat. She had indeed moved, but it was not to acknowledge him. Instead, it was only to remove the cloth she held against her face to wipe her cheeks and eyes before lowering it to her lap.

His shoulders started to curl downward, as he surrendered to the loss, when she moved again. This time he felt the heat of her eyes upon him as they traveled from his feet up his legs, across his stomach, over his chest, and finally…… finally…… they locked with his.

It was only for an instant; then he watched as her gaze dropped from his, back to the ground somewhere. She had looked away with not a word issued from her lips!

*******************

Kagome wouldn't have known he was there, if it hadn't been for that silent exchange of eye contact Sango cast beyond her. Her heart jumped against her breast bone at the knowledge of his presence, but she also tensed knowing that the inevitable confrontation was at hand. 

She had wished that he would come and be there with her, so she could let him know that she didn't blame him at all for what happened. She didn't want him hurting, like she knew he must have been from his expression before he darted away. 

She wiped her face before confronting him. The words were just at the tip of her tongue, but then her bravery fled and self consciousness set in, and she dropped her gaze back to the ground. 

How could she look at him now that he was there? How could she face him knowing that she had to be such a horrible person? To never have thought of how one simple word could bring such mind shattering pain to someone -- especially one that watched out and protected her with his very life! She felt so small and ashamed of herself that she couldn't bare the fact that he stood there looking at her -- not right then.

Closing her eyes, Kagome tried to shut everything out; concentrating only on the rhythm of her heart beating against her ribcage, trying to summon some measure of strength to face him again.

*******************

A cold chill raced down his spine. She…… She didn't want to look at him! 

**_'She can't bare the sight of me,'_** he thought, upon seeing her lashes sweep down across her cheeks in an effort to close him out, and it was obvious that she didn't want to speak to him either, because she didn't even say the one accursed word that he awaited with a sick need of hearing!

Gods, how much he wanted just to crash to the ground at that moment! He more than deserved it, but…… there was nothing, just silence and…… nothing, except, maybe, the tension he could sense radiation from her now.

The blow hit him like someone managing to punch him in the stomach, and he released the air in his lungs in a sounding rush. What was he to do now?

*******************

Kagome felt a warm, soft breeze against her skin, disturbing the wisps of hair that hung near her face, tickling her neck. It carried on it the scent of something sweet like berries, or…chocolate. Chocolate? 

An alarming sense hit her, which caused her to turn her head to the side a bit. Opening her eyes, she found herself nearly nose to nose with InuYasha; his large golden eyes penetrating straight into hers.

The position he was in made him have to lean his body forward somewhat, as he hunkered down, next to her, like he would be inclined to sit at times: feet planted flat upon the ground, knees spread apart as he rested his hands, also, on the ground between them. It usually brought a small smile to her face because he looked so much like a dog that was part of his being, however she was beyond able to do that simple jester now. 

"Tell me to sit." His voice was low, and a little more forceful than he intended it to be. He watched as her eyes widened and a renewed pain entered into them; up close as he was, he could see the tears rise and flood across them. Her face took on a look of aguish, and she turned away, but not before the dam broke to allow the tears to escape down her cheeks. He watched as she sat there, hiding from him behind the strands of hair that had fallen to form a barrier between them.

"You can't even look at me, can you?" The sudden clenching in his stomach and chest reached up to grab a hold of his throat, making his voice not much more than a whisper, but it hadn't taken away the harsh hoarseness of his words.

Still stinging from the revelation of her disgrace, she twisted her fingers in her lap. Shaking her head slowly, she answered tearfully low, "No."

InuYasha made a sudden movement backward, feeling as if she had just slapped him. It wasn't a far distance, -- pushed back upon his haunches, balanced only upon his feet with his hands coming to rest upon his knees, -- but the action moved him away from her so that he wasn't as close. She should have went ahead and slapped him, then, at least, she would have been venting something. _That_ was a better start than just the silence. He could deal with the physical pain much better than the kind he had to deal with on the inside. 

The first urge he had was to run away; run as far as possible so that he wouldn't have to face her, so she wouldn't have to see his face to remind her of the hurt he had caused, but he couldn't make himself go. It was like he was glued to the spot.

He tried to think of reasons why -- why he needed to stay.

For one, there were parts of the jewel that still needed to be found, and Kagome needed his strength to take them from the demons that possessed them…or that were possessed by them. Then, there was the fact that she needed to be protected in their perilous journey. He had to at least do that much for her -- see that nothing _else_ harmed her! There was also the fact that when speed was of the essence, or when she became too overly tired to make it on her own, he carried her on his back. _That_ was something he _didn't_ want to give up. 

When it all came down to it, InuYasha realized that every reason he thought of revolved around her. She needed him. She needed him even though she might not want anything to do with him. She was bound to him as he was to her. 

He didn't want to be anywhere that she wasn't. Maybe some would think that he was weak, needing someone, needing her like he did, but he didn't want to go back into the dark emptiness. He just couldn't…didn't…want to live his life like that anymore, not since she had brought so many things into it. His life had a huge, hollow hole in it when she wasn't there, and knowing that their relationship might be irreparably damaged, hurt him terribly.

Even though his mind raced with a hundred things, he was still at a loss for words to say to her, so he sat like a statue, staring at her. _She_ may not be able to bare to look at the sight of him, but he couldn't get enough of her. He dreaded the moment when she would cast him away also, leaving him to be all alone again.

**__**

'Just say the damn incantation,' he anxiously, yet silently insisted.

He had told her to sit him, and she looked at him with horror and refused by turning away. He questioned her about being able to look at him, and she said no. If he tried to apologize, would she reject that too? What was he to do? 

InuYasha did the one thing he didn't give thought to, as if his subconscious inner self drove him to do it. He dropped to one knee as he reached over and took her in his arms. He pulled her closer until he had her pressed against him; his arms wrapped around her to hold her there. He even took a hold of the back of her head to keep her from pulling back, nestling her against his collarbone where he could rest his chin on top of her head.

"Please, don't cry anymore, Kagome," he whispered against her hair, trying to sooth her. "I can't stand to see you cry. You don't have to look at me, and you don't have to say anything. Just…… just let me hold you for a little while."

He felt her hands grasp at his haori, and the soft, yet sharp, sound of her intake reached his ears. She did not struggle. In fact, he felt her body press closer to him, and with that he tightened his arms around her even more. Gods, he was glad, because he didn't think he could have let go of her right then, anyway.

He held her as if he could meld them close enough together so that everything he was feeling, everything he wanted to tell her, would seep within her.

*******************

It surprised her when he reached out and pulled her against him; his arms wrapping around her like a vice that she couldn't get out of. _As if_ she really wanted to get out of them! This was were she had wanted to be in the first place, even though she hadn't the nerve to launch herself into doing so. 

She felt his breath brush her hair as he spoke his whispered words against her, and when he had asked her to let him hold her, the only thing she could do was to grab a hold of his clothing and snuggle closer in affirmation; breathing air in with a soft gasp, which she seemed to have forgotten about doing before he took hold of her. Squeezing her eyes closed, Kagome silently willed him to feel all the she had within her. Praying that he would know just what he meant to her life.

*******************

That moment seemed to envelop forever, as the two willing energies sought to merge together; both feeling a tingling sensation within them where their chest met with each other. Yet forever wasn't quite long enough to forget that there were still things… important things… that needed to be taken care of. Kagome just happened to be the one to withdraw from that place first as her lips moved against the skin of his throat, her breath fanning across it as she whispered, "I'm sorry, InuYasha."

Hearing her words, the hanyou pulled himself back from the elation he was wrapped in, wondering what she thought she had to apologize for. 

"For what?" his voice was hushed and held the questioning tone.

There was a pause, allowing only the sounds of the night to be heard, but then he felt her hands tighten a bit and a slightly firmer press against him before she relaxed in release. When she pulled back, he let go of her; his fears being momentarily set aside as he concerned himself with her.

Kagome completely withdrew herself away from him, but only as far back as to the point of where his knees were. After sitting there a brief moment, she tilted her face up to look at him, then she reached her hands out toward him.

A warm softness came over his features, and he started to lean forward to meet her touch. His heart leapt within his chest even though he was uncertain where it would lead from there. He just knew damn sure that he was getting closer to her mouth!

He watched her for some sign of rejection, moving as if everything was in slow motion, but there wasn't any. There was only a sadness in her eyes, which was so unfathomable, nothing would be able to make its way out of them if it were to fall in. 

****

'Whatever it takes, Kagome,' he vowed silently, **'as long as you want me to be with you, I'll see that things are better with us again. You don't need to be so sad because of me.'**

He felt her hands touch him. He also felt a tug at the back of his neck, which still his movements. What elation he had just been feeling, changed, as whatever reason he had thought she was reaching out to him wasn't that at all……whatever _'it'_ would have been. She had taken a hold of his necklace, and her intentions were clear as she started to pull the beads upward. She was going to remove the control of the incantation beads from him, something which he could not do himself. She was going to release him of their accursed hold. She was setting him free! 

She had only gotten the rosary as far as his chin when a clawed hand took hold of both sides of it, trapping the necklace within his grasp; making the loop too small to simply be pulled over his head. Her eyes widened with startlement, only to have them held by his steady golden ones. Hers were ones of question. His were studious and unsmiling. 

"No." He said quietly, directly, and without blinking only inches from her face.

Kagome could only stare at him, her lips parting in want of saying something, yet nothing went past them. She did not understand why he had stopped her, why he _would_ stop her.

"Why would you do that for?" He questioned her in disbelief, his brows furrowing and a slight frown graced his own lips.

She dropped her gaze, veiling her eyes from him with dark lashes that fanned against her cheeks. 

"Because you don't……nobody deserves to wear something like that," her voice was low as she bowed her head enough that she wouldn't be directly facing him. "I -- I never thought…… that you might ever be hurt when you… slam down onto the ground like that. I…… You just never seemed to act like it… hurt."

InuYasha could only sit there, stunned by her words.

"I'm sorry, InuYasha," she whispered again.

The realization of her words floored him. She had…… She had she been upset over him? After he had hurt her, like he had, how could she be concerned over him like that? So her tears and distress _hadn't_ been just for herself. She wasn't upset over what he had done to hurt her, or because she was afraid of him. She was troubled because she got the idea in her head that she had been hurting _him_ all those times before! That meant she had been crying not because of him, but _for_ him!

"Stupid, _Baka_," he said gently, trying to take her thoughts away from the direction they were in by saying something that was normally him, but despite the type of words he spoke, they were in a tone that made them sound almost like an endearment. "There's nothing to be sorry for. Really. Don't be _crying_ over _me_. _You're_ the one that got hurt!" 

"Please, InuYasha," she stole a look up at him. "Let me take these off." 

He closed his eyes against the words that were already forming in his head. "No."

"Why?" she simply asked, raising her head up further. Both of them still held onto the damn necklace. 

InuYasha was not willing to admit the real reason he was keeping her from doing the very thing he had wanted since it was activated, but couldn't help become a little aggravated as to what he was about to do because of it. He drew back, pulling the beads from her hands to let them drop back against his chest.

"Sooner or later, you'll realize that having them around my neck isn't such a bad idea after all."

Looking back at him, she wasn't sure how to take that answer.

"Let's just say that without them I would have done a lot more stupid things without giving a thought about it. _And_ I'm sure there's a lot more things between now and finding the rest of the shards that I…" Back in his mind, his knew he was going to regret this sometime later. "…might need to sit and think about."

"But…"

"Nani (What)? Still worried that you hurt me? Keh! You're the one with the frail body! I'm not like you, remember? _I'm_ a demon."

"Y-you're only half."

InuYasha bristled a little at that reminder, feeling a little buffeted at her thinking he was the weaker side of his youkai self.

"_So?_!" He returned exasperated. "_That_ still makes me tougher and stronger than _you_! And you don't need to be whimpering and crying over me, either!" Even though his ego was dented a bit, her concern touched him, yet he folded his arms across his chest, as if he were in disgust. "As if _you_ could hurt _me_ with your 'sit' incantations! Feh! You'd have to try a lot harder than what you've given me any time before now."

He turned his head away, if nothing else than to watch her out of the corner of his eye to see her reaction. She looked uncertain as to what she should really think, as if wondering if he was really telling the truth, or if he was just covering the fact.

After moments of contemplation passed, she said, "Is that so?" and by the slight change of tone in her voice, he knew he had drawn her a little out of the wretched state she had trapped herself in.

"Way harder," he pressed scornfully. "So get over it already! If you're not crying over yourself, then you're just wasting water! _You_ can't hurt me!"

**_'Well, that should do it!'_** he thought, priding himself and waiting to hear the single word slip out from between her lips. 

Instead he got, "But I don't want to hurt you, InuYasha. I--I never wanted to hurt you."

His pretense dropped, and he said softly, "I know that, Kagome." seeing some doubts still in her as she stared up into his warm golden eyes.

"Why don't you just tell me to sit? You'll feel much better."

"I… don't… really ever… want to say that word again."

"Feh, I know you want to."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do."

"Why on earth do you want me to say it?"

"It's like that saying about falling off a horse."

"That still doesn't make sense as to why _you_ want your face slammed into the ground." 

"Because you'll get over this moping once you say it, OK?" he argued. Guess he was going to have to be a little more forceful about it after all. Looking at her pointedly, InuYasha jabbed a finger at his head. "Is your brain dead?"

She didn't say anything.

"Stupid!"

She was still quiet, so he tried again. "Baka!"

"Dog."

"Ninjen!"

"Hanyou!"

Getting almost in her face, he sneered, "BITCH!"

"SIT!"

She was as quick as the incantation this time, for as he started down, Kagome spread her knees apart to keep him from landing right in her lap. Her actions didn't register right away, as the sudden shock overtook her. She said the very word she swore she'd never say again. 

After a shocked gasp, she exclaimed with wide eyes and a hand covering her mouth, "Oh my God!! You… I… It slipped out!"

Within a few moments, he raised his head up to her, with something that resembled a lopsided grin on his face. "That got you to say it, didn't it?" 

"Are you alright?"

"Feh!" he snorted, as if she insulted him. "I told you to stop worrying. You need to say it a few more times so you get use to it again." 

Just how he was going to get her to do that was the question, but then…… with the intake of his breath……

"InuYasha…" she started but seeing the funny expression he had as he looked at her, caused her to stop. 

Well, it wasn't exactly at her as in the face, but at her. One brow quirked upward, while the other settled at a normal line. One eye was cocked open, while the other one was half hooded. Then there was a wicked grin that etched his lips. A grin that displayed the fangs of his teeth. Oh, yeah, he was going to get slammed for _this_ one!

Raising his gaze, which had a wicked glint sparkling in them, to look her right in the eye, he said almost singing, "I can _see_ your panties…"

Kagome shrieked, shoving her skirt down with her hands. She would have snapped her legs together if not for crushing and trapping his head there.

"I like that color, and you…" he did _not_ get a chance to finish.

"Sit, InuYasha!"

He _did_ really ask for this,… didn't he?

*************

He actually had been able to draw two sits out of her that last one.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked after he was able to get up from the ground; sitting cross-legged in front of her as he brushed himself off.

"No." she replied with a blush, folding her own arms across her chest. Now she was embarrassed as hell on top of it all!

"Kagome, you can see I'm none the worse for wear. If you want, you can 'sit' me some more." 

She was back to not looking at him again. With all that had happened, Kagome had forgotten about her face hurting, but now that things had calmed, caught up in her own humiliation, she could feel the pulsing in her lip start again.

He watched as she shook out the cloth that had fallen to the ground earlier and dip it into the pot of water she had. He watched as she wrung it out, and folded it, and then place it against her mouth. The simple action brought back a bit of defeating reality; she was still hurt. In fact, he could now sense that her lip was bothering her. He also still needed to apologize, but then she shivered. 

"Are you cold? Here," he removed his haori and handed it to her. "Put this around you."

She took it without a word and put it on. After snuggling into the folds warmed with his heat and the smell of his body, she replaced the cloth against her mouth.

"Maybe we should get you back to camp…" he suggested starting to rise.

"InuYasha?" She caused him to stop and look down at her from his half risen position. "Do you think…that maybe…," She felt her cheeks burning. "we could… ummm… we could… stay here…ummm… just a little bit longer?"

"If that's what you want."

"You think… you could…maybe… hold me for a little while?"

"You -- you want…… you want me hold you?"

She nodded her head, a little uneasy about her request, thinking he might not want to hug her again. "If you… If you don't…mind."

He dropped to his knees in front of her. "Hells, Kagome, I don't mind." Then he shifted so that his back was against the tree to help support him, settling into a position where one knee was bent upward and the other leg curled around in front. He looked at her with eyes that showed a mixture of wanting this too, yet was also doubtfully afraid.

Unsure how to approach it, he just opened his arms to her, letting her decide what to do. Immediately he found her within them as she sat herself down between his legs, draping hers over the side of the one he had lowest to the ground. She twisted her body so that she could lean against him easier, and buried the side of her face in the nook of his shoulder. One arm went up around his neck while the other went around his ribs, or at least against his side since the tree kind of obstructed the placement of her arm.

Once she was still against him, he wrapped his own arms around her to hold her close.

"How's this, Kagome?" 

"Nice," she breathed against him, and after several minutes passed, feeling the warmth starting to overtake her, she faintly said, "InuYasha, I don't want you to be sad either. I don't blame you for what happened. I -- I just want you to know that."

He felt his body clench slightly, and he looked down at the girl laying against him. Her eyes were closed and she had already relaxed.

"However long you want, Kagome." He whispered. "I'll hold you however long you want."

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I don't know if those who made reviews for chapter 3 during the original post can make another review on this version, but if you can I'd appreciate your view on this one.

Also, to those that do read my other story, "Same Thing, Different Time", I will be getting a chapter up here soon. Just a LOT of things have come up over that past couple of weeks preventing me from sitting down and writing, or breaks me constantly out of my thought process. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

aishiteru_inu 


	4. What I Can Do

**__**

Disclaimer: *Big sigh* Same as all the other chapters before.

Ok. It didn't make it up on the weekend I wanted it to be, and this one's almost past. In fact this chapter isn't finished at the end of it, so you have one more chapter to look forward to -- well, if you liked the contents of this one -- but it's been so slow in creating this one that I wanted to give you _something_. I don't know if I'll revise later and add the rest or just add as another chapter. This one-shot deal for this story got a bit longer than I ever expected. Geez!

Hope you enjoy.

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****

Pulling Her Down

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 4: What I Can Do

It had grown much later as the moon shifted its way across the sky. For the most part, InuYasha had just held her against him; resting his chin atop of her head, and feeling her breath against the skin of his throat. He took in the -- what she called 'straw berry' -- fragrance of her hair, which mingled nicely with her other scent of sakura blossoms. Her arm laid against him as the hand that had been entwined in the material of his undertunic, now rested just over his right breast. It had slackened in her sleep and slipped down a bit from where it once had been. The other one at his side, now rested limply at his hip.

He shifted her a little; moving her legs as best he could without having to disturb her too much, and managed to tuck them……sort of……to the side of her. Using his now freed leg, he encircled hers in an effort to keep them from being too exposed to the night air, covering them with the bellowed material of his pant leg. Huddled within his robe, pressed against him with his arms and leg encompassing her, she should be warm enough now. 

He had told her that he would hold her for as long as she wanted, and until she said otherwise he was content to stay right where he was at. What was a hard tree limb compared to the warm, softness he held against him? He certainly didn't have anywhere else better to be, and as long as she was asleep, she couldn't say different. 

InuYasha leaned back and relaxed once again, satisfied and comfortable, holding his…… holding his…… Ummmph! What was she in his arms? His companion? That didn't seem quite enough. His friend? She was that. His first real friend that accepted him as he was, but could holding just a friend be this nice? His…girl? His cheeks warmed a bit at that thought: his girl. Made them sound like a couple! His color deepened as he thought of all the…couple stuff: the little tender things, the mushy moments, the sappy stuff that others make fun at when they see it displayed. He didn't like being laughed at. So what did that leave her to be? 

Kagome. Plain and simple. Kagome covered everything. 

He looked down, but could not see her face very well where it laid against him, and what he could see, he had to strain his neck to do so. Shifting his arm, he was able to slide her head back so her face was more easily visible to his gaze. 

At the disturbance, she stirred, nuzzling the side of her face against the soft material that covered his arm as she adjusted to the change, then laid still, remaining fast asleep.

Unseen by anyone, he smiled. Just a short time ago, he was afraid that she would never want him to come near her again, and here, -- now, -- he held her, in his arms, against him, just as he had wished he could do. And she had came willingly at that! She laid there unaware of anything around her because, to her, she was somewhere that she felt she was safe…… protected, with someone she… trusted. 

His smile faded a little. Could he really be trusted? If she had taken the necklace off, would she have been able to trust him as much? She would have no control over him then, and what about after the shards had all been gathered? Would he turn on her…on them…after that? 

He tensed, not liking where his thoughts were going, knowing he could sit there and think of dozens of reasons why he prevented her from taking the damn necklace off him, and not one of them happened to do with him 'liking to eat dirt' either. He could sit there and dredge up countless horrors, but he didn't ever want to think of hurting her again. This had been enough. He could never… would never hurt her intentionally, and realized finally that he had not pulled her down on purpose. It didn't excuse him from hurting her, but he was glad he hadn't done it out of meanness of heart.

InuYasha didn't want to waste anymore of this time thinking such ill thoughts. All he wanted to do right now was watch her sleep in his arms, and he would sit there all night just to prolong the inevitable of her leaving his embrace.

Looking at her, she looked so peaceful laying there with the moonlight splashing its silvery light over her face, illuminating her skin. His gaze took in the way her bangs laid against her forehead and the dark curve of her lashes against her cheeks. Reaching up with his other hand, he smooth the hair back from her face, and noticed for the first time, the dark splotch of skin on her forehead. The moon's light exclamating the point that it was he that had marred her as such. 

His eyes traveled down her face to the small scrape on the upper right of her cheek and the darkening spot of a bruise there too. Her nose didn't look too bad for being slammed into the ground as she was, but her lip…… it jutted out slightly a bit more than usual. It was somewhat like a sexy pout, which he found he liked, but there was that horrendous gash upon it.

His own lip found its way out into a sorrowful pout. Even being an accident, this was still his fault! 

"I'm sorry, Kagome." he whispered, then lifted her up slightly. 

InuYasha bent his head until he touched his lips against her forehead. He closed his eyes at the contact, allowing a lingering moment before completing the kiss. Drawing his breath in, he inhaled her sweet fragrance before moving back and opening his eyes.

He hadn't gotten anymore than a few inches away when he stopped. 

His golden eyes staring down at her, then he leaned close again and ever so gently touched his lips to the part of hers that wasn't injured. 

Instead of just pulling away, InuYasha slid his lips toward the edge of hers until only the corners of their mouths touched, as did the sides of their chins. He held her for several seconds that way, then finally drew back away once again.

Was there anything he could do for her? He didn't really know if he could. There were just times in the past, when he had been badly hurt, that he would hide away and nurse his wounds; licking at them for the wont of anything else, licking at them when they ached…… anything to sooth and comfort the pain. But being a demon, even half of one, sped up his healing factor anyway, so personally, he still couldn't say for sure whether it was of any benefit or not. And it wasn't something he had ever tried -- or had ever wanted or thought to try -- on someone else to know for certain.

He knew dogs in general, had the ability to heal, so what use was it having a connection, being as such himself, if he didn't have some similar traits, right? At least that was his theory anyway, even though his brother, Sesshoumaru, had the ability to poison with his saliva. 

Now it was a matter of -- dare he? 

He wanted to make things better and if it worked, wouldn't it be for the best? But if it didn't… What would she think if she woke up and found him licking her like that? Would it horrify her? Would it present a new rift in their newly repaired relationship? 

He knew that she had been in a great deal of pain, and that it still hurt her, so how could he _not_ try to do something about it if he could? This would be the only time for him to do it: while she was asleep, because he couldn't see her agreeing to sit there and allow him to lick her. He'd… be too embarrassed to ask to do it in the first place, and… then he would have to explain what he intended to do to get her to let him, and… then… 

**__**

'Shut up, already, InuYasha, and just do it!!' the voice in his head yelled at him, getting impatient. **_'Just do it!'_**

"Don't be mad, Kagome,"****he murmured the words in a hushed voice. He regretted that this would probably awaken her, but if he did it soft and slow enough, just maybe…… 

Lowering his head once more, he placed his open mouth over her lips; pressing his tongue against the gash, flattening it out to soften the touch. All the while he watched to see if her eyes opened. They didn't. 

Lifting his tongue, InuYasha drew it back into his mouth, slid it across the roof, then returned it to her lip slightly moistened. He did this twice more, keeping his sight trained on her. She hadn't moved, and never even fluttered an eyelash. Good. Maybe he could do this _and_ get away with it after all!

He relaxed, closing his eyes; as long as he was slow and gentle, she wouldn't be disturbed. 

He began setting a rhythm of pushes, and licks, and rolls; his breath fanning across her cheek. The wound had opened after the first few times, giving him a taste of the sweet saltiness of her blood against his tongue. It sent a heated sensation running through him, and his breath came a bit thicker, a bit faster, but he did not stop his administrations. 

Sliding his tongue back, he collected the moisture from within his mouth, then laid it against her lip to damping the open wound. Gently he lifted his tongue from her, allowing the end part of it to glide across her. Again and again he repeated the pattern until he no longer tasted the blood, and he could feel the renewed skin binding the gash closed.

He liked this. Tasting her like this. Smelling her like this. An aching jolted went through his chest and stomach. It was similar to what he felt earlier, yet different. Before it twisted him with a sense of fear and loss, but now…… now it warmed his blood making it resonate through his veins. Even as the girl stayed asleep, he could smell a change in her scent getting a sweeter, muskier aroma.

With these new sensations shooting through him, his ministering took on even a more languid rhythm. He expelled a shaking breath across the side of her face, and tightened his hold upon her just ever so slightly more. Yet this was the extent of his attempt to further things from what he was originally doing in the first place. He could not help the reaction he had from touching her like this, from tasting her, nor could he help taking note of not only his response, but hers as well. But he had not started this to seek any gratification other than to see Kagome undamaged again. Still,…… the added bonus actually spurred his need to see that she was cared for even that much more.

Having engrossed himself so full-heartedly into what he was doing, InuYasha lost his awareness of the stirring signs of her awakening, even when her lips parted. The slight change only provided him with more of an access, and he ran his tongue against the newly exposed skin, savoring the even softer part of her inner lip.

He adjusted his mouth hold on her, twisting his head until it was a little more face to face rather than off to the side. Capturing her lower lip between his, he nursed it from within his own mouth. 

Kagome was wrapped in blissful warmth, feeling protectively safe. She could feel the heat of the summer's scented breeze drift across her face, and InuYasha kissing her in the slowest, softest way. It felt… so… nice. She parted her lips to deepen the kiss, and she felt his tongue shyly slide it's way across her lip right before he captured it between his, drawing it into his mouth. It was so blissful that she was content to remain there forever if it were a dream, yet already her consciousness was struggling to resurface, and so, reluctantly, she pushed her upper lip against his in a final kiss before it all disappeared. Her lashes fluttered to open, and when they finally lifted, she found herself staring into a world of silvery white nothingness. 

Remaining as she was, she allowed her senses to returned even more from her dream state and realized that what she was looking at was…… InuYasha's hair? As she became more aware of the pulling and suckling sensation of her lower lip, the memory that had followed her out of her dream was…… InuYasha…… _kissing_……her…? It wasn't a dream after _all_? It _wasn't_ a dream after all! 

Peering more closely, Kagome could see that his eyes were closed being so wrapped up in what_ever_ he was doing. 

"E-nu-nasha," she questioned as best she could without a bottom lip and his upper one pressed against her teeth. 

His movements stilled immediately, but didn't release the hold on her lip either as he raised his lids to reveal the dreamy glaze of golden eyes. His heated breath from his nose mingled with hers, and she couldn't help but inhale in the sweet chocolate-berry scent that still lingered. It was a moment to smile at, but with her lips captured as it was, it was a little hard to do.

"Uhhh……wat ar ou do n?"

She watched as he blinked, then blinked again; each time a little more of the shine disappeared, until he realized that he was truly staring into her rich dark eyes. Then his widened in alarm.

InuYasha jerked back from her as if he had been scalded, not able to silence the startled sound that ripped itself from him. His heart pounded against his chest seeing that his fear had became a reality. She was awake!

Disconcerted, he threw out his famous, "Feh!" to cover himself, when he was actually cringing, trying desperately to think of how to explain what he was doing. He looked away from her, setting his usual scowl into place. "I was…… I was trying to…… ummm…… to…… Feh!!" 

His brows furrowed more, as he fell into silence, because he couldn't even think of the damn word at the moment!He wanted to fold his arms together, which tended to give him a shielded sense of protection, especially when he was frustrated, but, because she was still supported against the one, he couldn't. Instead, he opted to lean back as far as he could until he was pressed firmly against the trunk of the tree behind him.

Feeling that a sitting posture was better suited at the moment than being partly reclined against his arm, Kagome shifted herself until she sat alongside his still up propped leg. 

"InuYasha, you said 'feh' twice in one sentence, and you didn't even complete what you were saying. So, why were you kissing me?"

"Keh! I wasn't kissing you!" he gruffly defended, pulling his arm to his side, and when she just sat there staring at him, he said a bit more forcefully, pushing his face close to hers, "_I wasn't kissing you!_"

"O-Okay,……"

"As if I'd--I'd want to kiss you! So, if you're going to yell at me for…… for doing something like kissing you, -- when I wasn't kissing you, -- you… you can just…… not… start, because it wasn't a kiss! I wasn't kissing you!" 

He would have smacked himself in the forehead if it wouldn't have made it look so obvious that he had completely fumbled that one up! 

Damn it, why did he have to stutter so badly and make such a poor excuse?! It made it sound worse, as if he _had_ been kissing her after all…… and he wasn't! He wasn't! As Kami was his witness, his intensions were pure! He couldn't help that it felt so nice, and she tasted so good, and…… and he had indulged in the pleasure it gave him -- just as he couldn't help the hostility he was displaying now. It was from the result of feeling guilty over that response, -- because he had enjoyed it, and wanted more -- when all he had intended to do was right a wrong in the first place, if it were possible.

A deepening blush splayed across his cheeks, and he was glad for the night, even as luminous as it was out, for it hid the signs of his embarrassment. Awkwardness wasn't something that seated very well with the hanyou, and he had tried to cover it with a brusque exterior.

"Okay," she gave a type of laugh that conveyed the message that she wasn't laughing at something funny. More to the point, it was to cover the fact that she was unsure about his attitude. She wakes up, finding him attached to her lips, and when he looked at her with those lazy golden eyes…… she just wanted to melt right into them, but now he acted so upset with her. "I think I got that you weren't kissing me. So……why did you have my lip in your mouth, licking it?"

Oh, Gods, that sounded like he _was_ kissing her! He winced inside.

"Feh! I wasn't……" No, he had already gone that route and mess up terribly. With a defeated sign, he bowed his head. "I…… thought that I…… might be able to help heal that…… gash on your lip. I think…… I should…… at least, I think I should…… have some healing ability since I am Inu related."

Kagome touched her bottom lip with her fingers, and when it didn't ache from the slight pressure, she slid them across to find that the raw jagged mark she once had there was hardly noticeable to her probing.

Her movement caught his attention, and peeking out from beneath his tousled hair of his forehead, he asked quietly, "How does it feel?"

She continued to gaze at him for a moment or so more before a tender smile graced her mouth. "It doesn't hurt anymore, and…… I think that it's almost healed completely."

Her words brought InuYasha's head up, his eyes falling directly upon her mouth. 

"Let me see." he said, yet did not give any room for her to object as his fingers curled underneath and took hold of her chin to tilt her face up. He was very studious of her mouth, examining his handiwork with almost clinical attention, then he let go. Giving a light snort of satisfaction as if knowing all along he could do that, he leaned back against the tree with his arms folded across his chest. "Yeah, well…… don't expect it whenever you get a little scratch or anything. And don't' be thinking I'm Kami's gift to healing wounds, because I'm not going to go around licking you or anyone else!"

She was quiet for a moment, watching him bath in his little success.

"You are such the proud koinu (puppy)," she softly teased, watching as his mouth dropped open, then his face scrunched up. 

"I ain't no koinu!" 

Despite his moment of ire, she laughed, the gentle sound genuine, and it filled his ears, tickling them, and causing them to tweak up and down slightly. His brusqueness dropped immediately. Just hearing her laughing made him more at ease. She wasn't upset or horrified over what he had done, and he was glad that he had made the right choice.

"InuYasha?"

"Nani?"

"Arigato." 

A bashful flicker of a grin started to show at the corner of his mouth, but as he sat there staring at her, it froze. She had the prettiest smile on her face, and as she looked at him, her eyes were deeply warm, and her scent……

He raised himself to sit straighter, moving away from the tree itself, which caused him to sit a little closer to her. She didn't back away from his advance either. His face took on a somber look as his eyes stayed fastened upon a particular spot on her cheek.

When he spoke his voice was quieter and a little bit deeper. "Kagome, if--if you want," he started hesitantly, wondering how she would react if he suggest something else. "I could…… see about taking care…… of those other……places…" 

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NOT THE END OF STORY……Yet.

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Note Explanations In Story: Again, my darn spell checker tells me I'm wrong in the spelling of a word I used: exclamating. Heck, it might really not be a (true) word, but it's the exact one I wanted to use in the story, and to me it means an 'exclamation point' type thing, you know, making itself more aware of, or stand out. The word exclamation didn't fit as is.

Sesshoumaru's poison salvia. I got this during InuYasha's first encounter with him in the TV series when they went to retrieve the sword. Sesshoumaru turned into his demon dog form and the light green stuff dripped out of his mouth. To me, that was like a normal dog slobbering, and slobbers is saliva just a heck of a lot of it. 

Dog's being antibacterial. I've heard the saying that a dog's tongue is healing. I've heard that they create some antibacterial properties in their salvia that helps heal their wounds. I believe this, though I wouldn't want a dog (except InuYasha haha!) to try this on a cut I would have -- seen way too many things they eat, then there's that whole licking themselves thing. But anyway, they are nearly constant at it, and whether it's because they keep it so clean or they do heal themselves I don't really know. 

Please Review………

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Koinu = puppy 

Nani = what

Arigato = thank you

Kami = God

Feh or Keh = an expressing sound


	5. Taking Care of Those Other Places

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Disclaimer: *Big sigh* Same as all the other chapters before.

Hope you enjoy.

To all those that HAVE already read this story. The update on this chapter was only to correct an incorrectly used spelling mistake which someone pointed out. (*bows head* *blushing*). Story is still the same.

Sometimes, I re-read my stories too many times trying to catch mistakes of wording or misspells. Sorry if I missed any other ones.

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Pulling Her Down

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 5: Taking Care of Those Other Places

Previous Chapter:

When he spoke his voice was quieter and a little bit deeper. "Kagome, if--if you want," he started hesitantly, wondering how she would react if he suggest something else. "I could…… see about taking care…… of those other……places…" 

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Reaching up, her fingers followed the line of his sight to the tender spot on her face, feeling the scraped skin beneath her touch. Funny how she hadn't noticed it before, yet now she could feel the soreness of it.

"I thought," she too spoke softer. "you said not to expect you to do that anymore."

"Keh," the short sound he made was almost as if he gently cursed, and he returned his gaze to hers. "I wasn't meaning that right now." 

Her lips parted slightly as she started to make the sound of 'oh', but it didn't get past them. She noticed that InuYasha's eyes dropped to her mouth momentarily, and when they returned, back to hers again, there was a slightly brighter sheen to them. 

Without attempting to say another word, Kagome turned her head slightly and offered the injured cheek to him. A moment later, she felt his fingers thread through the locks of her ebony hair to cup the back of her head as his other hand came up to cradle the opposite side of her face. 

She couldn't help the surge of apprehension that ran through her at his touch. It wasn't from fear because of what had happened earlier, but for the simple fact that what he intended to do wasn't… well… wasn't an everyday, run of the mill type thing. She remained as she was, but had to close her eyes to ward against her nervousness. Yet for someone who had enhanced senses, the faint scent of her tension was easily picked up.

"What are you afraid of?" She heard his lowered voice ask. "Is it me?" 

"No, InuYasha." she murmured back just as soft. "I'm not afraid of you." 

Several seconds passed, with the only thing that stirred was a few strands of her hair as his breath fanned across her skin. He did not move as he allowed her words **_'…not afraid of you.' _**to sink in; resounding in his head until his own apprehension left. 

InuYasha dipped his head down toward her only to stop an inch or so away. He could easily reach her, but instead he said in a quieter voice, "Come closer, Kagome."

Without hesitation or question, she complied to the request. 

Raising her hands, she laid them against the soft material of his under tunic, which covered his chest, if nothing more than to keep herself upright and steady. For some unknown reason, she never quite realized just how solid he was underneath her touch.

How could she just sit there and calmly let him… lick her face? What would he think, _IF_, _what_ he was about to do, _felt _as nice as it did when he kissed… huh, healed… her lip? What if she pressed herself against him? Sure, she had been snuggled close next to him not too long ago, but that was different. Now other sensations were stirring within her, and it was already becoming a slight effort to calm her senses. If she didn't reign them in from going places they shouldn't be, she wasn't sure how he would take her response.

He was, after all, only doing what he could to right a wrong he believed he had done to her. His intentions _were_ only an extension of his 'protection' of her because he felt guilty as to being the one that had caused her harm. It was nothing more than that. He had made _that_ evident in the way he had objected so profusely about kissing her. 

Still, the thought of his mouth on her face, having his tongue stroke her skin, sent electric waves coursing through her.

"Kagome,…" he spoke again, so close that she could feel every word flutter against her skin from his breath, and all she could do was issue a ''ummm?" because, for some reason, her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth. 

"…I'm sorry." He lightly pressed his face against hers, "I… didn't…" and she felt his scrunch up a bit, "I'm so sorry that I caused you to get hurt", then his hold upon her tighten somewhat as if to infuse her with the depth of his apology.

"InuYasha,…" her voice was a mere whisper, but he cut her off as he continued.

"I know you said that you didn't blame me." He brought his head up only enough so that he could see her eyes when she opened them. "I just…can't… forgive _myself_ that easily. I… failed…you. I swore…"

"InuYasha," she breathed his name again. Looking at him, she shook her head in a slow, minuscule movement. "you… haven't failed me."

He continued to hold her gaze, watching as the moonlight sparkled within them.

"Kagome," he whispered as he pressed his face against hers, his lips brushing her cheek tenderly. It was then that the warm, moist softness of his tongue grazed her wounded skin. 

There was no need to be quite as gentle as before, for this time, however, there was no fear of awakening her nor the fear of how to explain it if she did. And even though her eyes were now closed again, she was just as conscious as he was; fully aware of what he was doing. Still, InuYasha found he wanted to do no less than what he had done earlier, and slid his tongue softly across the abrasion. 

Unlike her lip, the small patch didn't bleed nearly as bad; merely spotting in places, and since the damage had not been that severe, it did not take along at all for her skin to heal completely. Yet even when there was no longer any traces of unevenness in the texture of her skin against his tongue, InuYasha was unwilling to part himself from her. He continued to savor the taste of her in a deliberate, slow rhythm. The scent of her fragrance which eluded from her in warm waves, began to tweak a response of his own a little more. 

As if in a silent answer to his reluctance of letting her go, he remembered that there was one other place to 'take care of'. 

Shifting his hands, he lowered the one that had supported the back of her head, to her shoulder; sliding his fingers down the length of her neck then slipped them under the collar of his haori that she wore. As he began to slide the garment away from her, his lips emulated the direction of his hand and moved across her skin.

As the haori was pulled down, his mouth continued to descend also in a combination of light pressures of his lips and whispered strokes of his tongue. Kagome had never felt anything like it. She had never in her wildest dream imagined how soft his mouth could be against her. It was like…… a caress of raw silk being drawn across her skin, leaving a trail of moist heat in its wake.

He moved lower still, with a purposeful intent to follow the downward path that his hand had gone. 

At the neck of her throat, InuYasha could feel her pulse quickly beating, and when he opened his mouth, sliding his tongue over the length of it, the pace accelerated even more. With a low sounding growl in the back of his throat, he captured the beating skin and drew it into his mouth, sucking her gently like a nursing pup. He loved the erratic throb, and feeling the tempo against his tongue caused his own to speed up. Every moment that she permitted him to continue, made his blood grow even warmer.

His hand continued pushing the haori away until the bandage on her arm was exposed, which caused his mouth to become mobile once again, and seared a path to the base of her neck. As he made a sensual assault of her skin there, InuYasha sliced through the wrapping with a slow, measured movement. After pulling it away, he lifted his head. 

He did not look at her. His eyes were fixly set upon the place he had just abandoned, fighting with a growing urge to return his mouth against her there. As hard as this was becoming, he wasn't quite finished, and was determined to do what he said he would for her.

Shifting a little more, he moved the hand that still cradled her face to the middle of her back, then took hold of the wrist of her injured arm, with the other, and pulled it away from him. 

He didn't ask, and he wasn't going to. She had already granted him permission before hand, -- maybe this part wasn't what she had in mind when she offered her cheek, but he did say 'other places' -- and he wasn't going to give her the chance to change her mind now. Until he had fixed _all _the damage he had done, he wasn't giving her up.

Stretching her arm outward, InuYasha bent forward again to bring his mouth down upon the lacerations that were there -- wounds that were made by his claws -- and pressed his tongue against her. He closed his eyes at the contact, fighting to keep from giving any voice to the sound that ached to escape his throat. He couldn't let her know the rush he was getting from doing what he was because _of_ them, even though he inwardly winced at the sight because they reminded him that he was the reason they were there. 

The first strokes of his tongue were taken slowly, as if he was testing for a reaction, and when there wasn't any, -- other than the spike of her scent, -- that was all he needed to begin licking with a more rhythmic pace just as before. Over and over he bathed the wounds with his tongue, his mouth moving against her as the injury was of a greater length than the previous ones. The same sweet saltiness welded up more profusely as the skin opened against the rasping splay of his tongue, yet the flow was eventually staunched by the gentle tamping of his own healing moisture.

Releasing a heavy breath from his nose, it fanned against her skin in a long and very warm caress. 

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A jolt went through her body as InuYasha placed his mouth upon her arm and started lathering her with strokes of his tongue, his lips moving and pressing against her as he worked the length of the gashes. Her senses were tingling with a flurry of electrical sparks shooting through her, and it was all she could do to sit there quietly. Finally, she surrendered to her weakness and leaned her forehead against him, hoping to at least hide the emotions that had to show upon her face.

Kagome bit gently into her bottom lip to keep from expressing any sound that he would mistake as a sign of wanting more of this. Well…… actually, no, he wouldn't be mistaken. He would be right, but she didn't want him to have reason to stop what he _was_ doing. How would he react if, out of his compassionate effort, he saw her swooning with desire? 

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It took a much longer time, but InuYasha finally lifted his head and stared down at the smoothness of her skin. Heat coursed through his body as surely as his blood flowed, and there was a pounding in his head. The taste of her still lingered in his mouth, even though her blood had long since stopped flowing, and the spicy sweet scent of her filled his nose. She was so close to him that even her breath caressed warmly against his throat. 

The combination of sensations were mingling together and starting to run rampant. They made him hurt, yet, at the same time, long for more. He liked it… no, the fact was, he loved it.

But what was he to do now? He had taken care of the two remaining places she was hurt. He had tried to prolong his ministering as much as possible, but ultimately it had to come to an end. Now, there wasn't anything for him to do to keep her there. She would move away from him, and he didn't want that to happen… not yet. 

Maybe…… Maybe if he…… 

Relaxing his hold on her arm, InuYasha bent down again and placed his lips against the exposed skin of her neck once again. He kissed her there, and gave another stroke of his tongue. She raised her head to sit back, but he still had control of how far, and he only allowed enough distance for him to press his mouth against the pulse that he found so enticing before. 

"InuYasha," she murmured, and her only response was of him saying, "Ummmm?"

"I--I didn't know that I… had so many places for you to take care of."

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Thanks to all the people that have been reading my story here, **especially those that have taken time to make reviews**. Sorry again that my updates on this story and my other one have been taking soooo long. I had intended to end this story in this chapter, but I've not been successful in doing an ending that I like -- hopefully whichever one I go with, you will. Anyway, I decided to split it (again) and at least give you something to ready. ~~~~~ aishiteru_inu 

Oh, and yes, I know that wounds getting licked by a dog, would not 'normally' heal so fast, but 1) he's a demon, (or at least half of one, but still…) and his healing factor IS a whole lot faster than a human. Really, how fast do you THINK he can heal especially when he's had his brother's hand through him, and swords, and… well, you get what I mean. Anything else would be dead with holes in their body like that. 2) it's the way I want my story to go.


	6. The Kiss

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Disclaimer: *Big sigh* Same as all the other chapters before.

FINALLY! The last chapter!! And I dedicate this chapter to sweetdaeth. I hope that I've… umm… made you pleasantly happy? I hope that all you others out there that have been _sooooooo_ patiently waiting for this chapter that you enjoy it.

Don't know whether I should tell you to get a glass of ice cubes before you read this or not. Maybe it's not that hot after you do read it. It might be anti-climatic. Some of you that was expecting something a little more, might be a little disappointed. I took a long time thinking about how this _'one-shot turned six-chapters' _would go and it was just never meant to go _'that particular way' _-- even though I got carried away and wrote one up _that way_. Still I do hope you enjoy what is contained within.

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Pulling Her Down

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 6: The Kiss

Previous Chapter:

"InuYasha," she murmured, and her only response was of him saying, "Ummmm?"

"I--I didn't know that I… had so many places for you to take care of."

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His hand pressed upon her back a bit more, afraid to answer her, afraid that any moment she was going to pull away.

That one statement sent so many thoughts racing through his mind at that moment, yet none of them made clear sense. He didn't care. He didn't want to have to make sense to any of it. The only thing he wanted was to concentrate on what he was doing right then. 

He moved his lips upward against the beating pulse of her throat, until they came to the line of her jaw. He nuzzled her gently until she tilted her head enough that he could follow her jaw line from underneath, to her chin. From there, he lifted his head and placed a light lingering kiss at the corner of her mouth, and then he drew back from her.

InuYasha kept his gaze purposely upon her mouth for he knew that if he looked into her eyes, he wouldn't be able to hide it. He knew that _it_ couldn't _help_ but show in his gaze because his eyes were giving off an unfamiliar warmth. It, once again, made him afraid of what her reaction would be once she saw; once she knew.

He could feel her gentle breath upon his face as he continued to take in the petal softness of her skin, the blush of her lips, and the fragrance of sakura blossoms along with the enticing smell of sweet musk.

Slowly, guiding the hand that he still held captive by the wrist to his chest, he pressed it against him to let her feel the rapid rhythm of his heart beating against her palm. Releasing her wrist, he left it up to her to keep it there… or not. 

Raising his hand the few inches that it took to reach her face, he soothed the skin across her cheek with the back of his curled fingers, then carefully threading them through her hair to cup the back side of her head. The two of them were already so close together that it wouldn't be much of an effort to completely bring his body in contact with hers. He knew he shouldn't. He knew it, yet he couldn't stop himself, and with a minimal of shifts, the front length of his body was against her. 

The contact sent a searing jolt through him, which instantly caused his gaze to lift to hers. Through the hazy warmth of his eyes, InuYasha tried to search hers to see if there was any flicker of rejection from what he just did, and was further stunned when he found there wasn't. In fact, Kagome sat staring back at him with the same kind of dazed look that mirrored his own. 

Deep golden eyes dropped from the rich darkness of hers, back to the soft roundness of her mouth, which InuYasha found himself being drawn to. Pressing his lips against hers, he lingered only mere seconds before he withdrew, trying to bring his gaze back to hers as he did so but found that the lids were too heavy to lift anymore than halfway. His lips moved to say her name, but his voice was so hushed that the sound barely even issued forth. 

The girl in his arms did not try to move away, nor did she say a word to object; even if she had at that moment, he wouldn't have heard it, for the blood that surged through his body carried the heavy rhythmic pounding of his heart within it. A soft moaning growl managed to rise up and escape from his throat just before he captured her mouth with his; lips melting to mold perfectly against hers. 

As hers parted, his tongue that had so lavished her cuts slipped in between and sought to caress all that was within. This time it wasn't the gentle tenderness as before. No, he kissed her with an ardency of a man fighting to cling to an illusion that he knew just couldn't be true and would disappear at any moment. 

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Between his hands and his mouth, Kagome was fused against him without a chance to escape even had she wanted to. It was a heady sensation as she reveled in the demanding, yet buttery softness of his lips -- a sharp contrast to the hard strength that was InuYasha. The touch of his tongue against hers went beyond anything she could ever imagine as he stroked and swirled about it. The taste of him in her mouth, the smell of his skin and breath, made her senses skyrocket. Her hands grasped at the material beneath them, then relaxed to be able to slid them upward, finding their way around his neck to hold herself against him, or perhaps to hold him closer.

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The movement of her arms gliding across his shoulders made him aware that the illusion was not going to disappear any time soon, and InuYasha relaxed the assault of her mouth and changed to a more sensual exploration of it instead. In doing so, he gained the added pleasure of feeling Kagome mimicking the caresses upon him, bestowing subtle strokes of her own over the inner flesh and teeth of his mouth. 

InuYasha broke contact, only to recapture her mouth in a different way as he teased her bottom lip, nipping at it, before drawing it gently into his mouth where he licked and sucked the soft fleshy skin. Yet that only satisfied him for a short bit as he grew hungry for the taste of her from within, and he released the ravished lip to lay claim to her mouth in another achingly sweet kiss.

His hand wandered over the back of her body. Unable to find the hem of her shirt because of his haori that she still wore, he moved his hand around the side of her until he found the opening between their clothing. Sliding his hand back around her, he quickly found the bottom edge of her shirt, which easily gave him access to the bare skin he had been searching for. Careful that he did not do anymore damage with his claws, he touched her with arched fingertips. 

As she trembled in response, he released a heavy breath, which fanned against her face in heated unsteady waves, and a gentle vibrating growl was drawn from deep within his throat.

With heady confidence, Kagome reasoned that he wasn't the only one able to tease, and she began to emulated his actions with those of her own. But the first time she drew away, intent on capturing his lip as he had done to her, InuYasha held onto her. A small whimper was drawn out of him as he thought he would have to let go.

"No," he murmured in a husky plea pressing his lips against her mouth, "Not yet."

His hand became bolder, gliding up her side, over her ribs, only to return against her back to rub teasing strokes across her shoulders blades. 

Kagome felt entitled to do as much, and her own hands became more than willingly mobile. Up over his neck, she threaded her fingers into the wildness of his snowy white hair, gripping handfuls of it, yet she did not settle long with that. Her purpose was set upon another destination. One that she had, for a long time, yearned for.

The hanyou, which feasted himself upon her mouth, was too intoxicated with her to be aware of anything she might do, until he felt her fingers clasp him at the base of both ears. Her fingers curled against the soft outer part, as her thumbs pressed against the silky inner part. 

*********************

Kagome knew that he was easily upset about having them touched, but she did not realize just why he had always been so objectingly reluctant to have them bothered with… until now. Until, with a gasp, his body slightly jerked and he drew away from her mouth; he kept his eyes close, but he did not shake her away to avoid her touch. In fact, he lowered his head just a bit. 

Upward her fingers moved, in whispering circular motion, and within the heavy breaths, a choked whimper issued forth, which caused him to bite into his bottom lip. He kept his golden eyes hidden beneath the splay of lashes against his cheeks, oblivious of the liquid chocolate eyes that drank in the emotional response he had to her touch. 

Sooo… this was why he wouldn't let anyone bother with his ears! They were a sensitive spot for him, which had him melting into a persons hands! A warm smile graced her lips as she gazed at the exquisite, yet wanton, angelic face marred only by the tips of his fangs.

*********************

Lowering his head more, InuYasha touched his forehead to hers. He was still for a moment, taking in the blissfulness of her touch, then he gently rubbed against her there; his nose brushing along over hers. 

Nuzzling her face, he splayed light kisses against wherever his lips found to touch, be it her eyes, or cheeks, or the top of her nose. And as she continued the assault, working her magic across the width of the triangular appendages and all the way to the tips, he issued another small whimper. Was this heaven? And if it wasn't, he didn't care. 

The sensations didn't stop any time soon either, as she opened her fingers and laid them full length down over the backside of his ears. Lightly she began to scratch him there as well, raking her fingernails against the base and the surrounding area of his head as well. She drew her nails up over the furry cartilage side as her thumb slide upward on the inside. He choked out a coarse groan, as his lips became more feverish, capturing her mouth once more in a brief branding, before he made a trail across her cheek and down the other side of her neck that he had not given any attention to before. His move did not accommodate her to continue the play with his ears, but that was beyond caring at the moment. 

With the hand at the back of her head, InuYasha tilted her head to the side, exposing the length of her throat to his demanding lips. Every breath he took, only caused him to draw in more of her heated scent, which was driving him even more. His mouth found the juncture of her neck and he kissed and licked her there. He even opened his mouth against her allowing his fangs to tease her skin. It would only take a moment and she would be his forever, just a bite, just a mark; that's all it would take to brand her as his.

**_"You can't do that to her."_**

"Oh, yes, I can!"

**_"She doesn't know. She hasn't agreed."_**

"Kagome," his voice was muffled as his mouth had moved against the beating pulse of her throat, but whatever it was that he was about to say, was quickly forgotten as he felt her lips -- still mimicking his -- upon the beating pulse of his own throat. The newer sudden sensation caused him to lift his mouth away from her in surprise. His mouth stayed partially open, as his eyes flew open wide. 

What was this? This was… This was… Gods, is this what it felt like when he had been doing it to her? It was… beyond words to describe as the tiny little shock waves rushed from the touch of her lips, or nip of her teeth, downward, making his entire body temperature rise even higher. It didn't help when she ran her own tongue down the length of his throat to end in a kiss right in the center dip of his collar bone. 

A muffled gasp escaped him, and he felt a warmth that radiated down through his body. He felt so hot! He felt like he was burning up and the clothes he had on were a nuisance. Leaning himself away from her, as hands worked furiously on the white undershirt to quickly jerk the offending piece of clothing from his body. Once freed from it, he gave a soften growl and came up against her so hard, he nearly toppled them over. But with quick shifts of his legs, he managed to continue the downward descent to the ground. With another low growl, he captured her mouth once more with his as his hands found hers; entwining their fingers together as he held them against the earth.

Several moment later InuYasha broke free of their kiss. His face was melting with the heady feeling as he gazed down into the chocolate rich irises of hers glinting with sparks of silver from the moon's light. Kami, she was so beautiful. She was the reason that he felt so alive. She was the reason that he was truly alive. Somehow, she came through the darkness that had engulfed him and guided him into the light, away from the emptiness, away from the pain. There were times when he had rushed back to throw himself into that darkness again, but Kagome… she saved him in more ways than one. 

*********************

As the moon happened to be behind him just over his shoulder, Kagome could not see his face quite as clearly as he did hers, yet the light illuminated his white mane and ears, giving him a silvery halo about him. 

InuYasha. He was… beautiful, even in his rough, sort-of-wild way. There was so much to him that was amazing. She didn't care if he wasn't full demon. She didn't care if he wasn't all human either. She didn't fault him for it, nor did she think him less in either. Being a hanyou made him unique both in character and looks, encompassing strengths of two worlds not just one. She fell in love him. InuYasha. As he was. Who he was. 

*********************

Once again, InuYasha leaned down against her lips, kissing them lightly a couple times before deepening the kiss. She responded in kind allowing him to slip his tongue within her mouth where hers was waiting to caress it again. It was a languid gentle kiss, all roughness of doubt gone. 

Relaxing the grip he had upon her fingers, he slid his hands to cup either side of her head. 

"Kagome," he murmured once more against her lips just before pulling up to gaze down into her face, giving her a sleepy drugged-like smile. His body shook as slight tremors coursing through him. She felt so good beneath him, his body pressed down upon her, the heat their bodies mingling together. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt why it bothered him to see her hurt, to see her cry. He knew the answer, which he had toyed with earlier, as to what she meant to him. 

"Kagome," his voice was softly deep. "ai shi…."

Then it happened. Both of them felt it.

InuYasha froze, not even finishing what he was about to say. Kagome's reactions was pretty much the same. Their eyes grew a bit wider as they stared at each other; the euphoric smiles that had tenderly graced their lips slightly waned. Neither one moved even to take a breath, and then it happened again. The stirring sensation of something hard surging between them down there against their lower extremities. The look of horrid desperation flooded InuYasha's face, as heat burned his cheeks, yet he couldn't seem to make himself get off her.

Closing his eyes tightly shut, he bit down upon his bottom lip, which showed most clearly his fanged canines against his chin. He looked as if he was in pain as another wave went though him and, unthinkingly to stop it, he pressed his hips against her with straining muscles. As soon as he did that, his reaction was nearly that of someone getting doused with cold water. His eyes sprang open, even wider than before and a gasp escaped his now parted lips. All he could do was stare down at the girl beneath him; waiting in desperate fear for her to recoil from him at any moment.

"I-Inu-Yasha," she murmured quietly and slowly as if to insure he understood what she was going to say. "W-We need to stop. We need to get u-up now. I-If we don't…"

She didn't need to finish as InuYasha drew himself up and sat himself back on his butt. He, as well, already knew the direction their actions were taking them. 

He looked down toward the ground and off to the side, not able to meet her eyes right then. He had let things get a little too carried away… 

**_'A little?'_** his subconscious chimed in. **_'Seems like getting laid out on the ground is a far cry away from hoping she'd even have anything to do with you again, let alone look at you!' _**

By the shifting sound of her clothes and the scrapes upon the ground, he could tell she was also getting herself up.

Kagome sat there upon her legs, taking in InuYasha's uncomfortable pose. His head was bowed as he kept his face away from her sight, his ears had a bit of a droop to them, and he sat there as if embarrassingly whipped in defeat. There were no heated accusations, no fumbled excuses for himself, just silence.

"InuYasha," His ears flicked when he heard her say his name quietly again, but he still couldn't bring himself to face her. "It's not… It's not that I…" Kagome stopped, not knowing what exactly to say.

"You don't have to say anything, Kagome," he cut in softly, still keeping his gaze away from her. "I… understand…" 

She had let him kiss her and touch her and… his face blushed secretly in the remembrance of those stolen moments; his chest constricting until he thought his heart was going to be crushed. Stolen moments was right. He stole them from her with his unworthy desire of her. 

**_'You just go from one bad situation into one equally as bad,"_** he berated himself silently.

Those 'moments' were something that she should have shared with someone worthy to stand by her side, not some half demon. She had seen him kill, had seen the ferocity that was within him. She had seen him covered in blood and gore of his slaughters. And even though there were consequences at times for it, she usually was always the one to take the brunt of his ill-temper and foul mouth. Something of which he had been in earlier just before… just before he pulled her down.

She did not blame him, and he knew he had not done it on purpose, but still… 

Kagome watched as he flexed his clawed hand that rested against the ground, making small furrows as he pulled his fingers back across the earth. She could sense a coiled tenseness eluding from him, something that he was fighting within himself.

After several moments of tense silence between them, she scooted closer until she was directly in front of him. Sitting back upon her legs again, she reached out, taking his face within her hands and lifted his head. Surprisingly he made little effort to resist, and other than closing his eyes, he could do nothing else but look into hers. Slowly and gently, she shook her head. 

With every bit of feeling within her shining out of her eyes, Kagome's next words were soft and unhurried. 

"It isn't that I _don't_ want to be with you that way," Hoping that the moonlight wasn't bright enough for him to see the deep blush that rose to her cheeks as she admitted, "because I do. But there are some things that are unresolved, and I just… I don't want us to get caught up in the moment of doing something that will led to… doubts or regrets later."

O_O.

InuYasha was very much a statue; still trying to gather himself together from her straight forward admittance that she wanted to be with him when she mentioned something about… doubts and regrets?

"Doubts and regrets?" he echoed, his stunned elation already dropping rapidly.

Dark lashes swept down to veil her dark eyes for a few seconds as her hands dropped away. God, she was an idiot! She was going to ruin the best moment of her life!

Glancing back up into his shaded golden warmth, she quietly said, "Kikyo."

She watched with an avid mixture of feelings, waiting for it all to crumble, waiting for him to push her away realizing just what he had been on the brink of doing.

InuYasha sat unmoving, his expression not revealing a hint of what he was thinking, until she heard him say, "Kikyo who?"

There was a second,… no… two seconds after his answer before she realized that she had been holding her breath. Even when she started to breath again, all she could do was stare at him.

After several more seconds, she managed to say, "Don't joke, InuYasha."

"I'm not." He said quite seriously. 

Kagome folded her arms, giving him raised eyebrows. "Oh? So you wouldn't go running off at first sniff of her?"

Wasn't this around the same kind of conversation they were having right before… umm… right before he… yeah… it was. He had gotten a good dose of what could happen losing his temper and then reaching out in a argumentative fit, only to lock onto her just as she said the magic word.

"Listen, Kagome," he started, hoping that she would understand. "The time I spent thinking about how much I hurt you… I… I couldn't bare it. I couldn't bare what I had done to the one person that just accepted me as I was, the one person that has always had faith in me, believed in me. It made me realize how much I didn't want to lose you. Kikyo wasn't even a thought."

"When Kikyo is around, I do search her out. I'll probably keep doing that until… until… she's gone from this world. I want to know what she's doing, what she's up to."

He could sense her withdrawing herself from him even though she hadn't moved.

"I want to know to keep you safe."

Her expression never changed, but he could still tell she was doubtful.

"I know she's tried to hurt you in the past, and I don't think I could bare it if I lost you, Kagome… even to her." He paused for a moment thinking he had said it all wrong, had said too much. "I'm not going to follow her to hell."

Not enough?

"There's only one person I want to follow anywhere with. The one person that's given me the chance to live."

It was Kagome's turn to remain still, yet there was something in her scent that told him that she wasn't about to jump up and walk away. He raised his hand to caress the side of her face with his knuckles.

"It isn't Kikyo." Plowing on ahead, he asked, "What about you? There's that Ho-bo-jo guy?"

Kagome finally came out of her daze and gave a little smile with a soft laugh to go with it. "He's not even a questioning factor."

"What about Koga?"

Kagome's smile broadened as she glanced down to the ground. "He doesn't compare to the one I have in mind to be with."

InuYasha's demeanor began to soften even more, sitting up with a little more confidence.

"And just who is it that you have in mind?" He probed with a bit of silk to his voice. 

"Well,… he has a fierce determination. He's strong and brave. He's taller than I am, with long white hair, beautiful golden eyes, and…"

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed in horror, causing Kagome's eyes to jump to his face in alarm. "Sesshoumaru?!"

Her mouth dropped all the way open this time as her eyes grew as big as saucers. She jerked around, prepared to see the image of the Western Lord behind her.

"W-Wha….?" 

Then she heard InuYasha trying to stifle a snicker behind the shadows across his face. For giving her a fright and realizing that he teased about who she was describing, Kagome turned back around to face him and piqued, "That's _not_ funny."

She heard him laugh under his breath once more before he leaned forward, bringing his face up close to hers.

"Who is it, Kagome?"

She grinned. "For that one, I think I'll leave you guessing." 

She stood up, which deflated him a bit, knowing that their time there was coming to an end. Dusting herself off, she adjusted her clothing to it's more proper place. Even InuYasha's haori was gathered about her a little more securely. She began to feel a bit chilled now that their so-called passion was leveling out.

"Guess Miroku's going to have a big kick out of us being out here so late at night." InuYasha groan as he reached for his under tunic and put it back on. 

"Is it going to bother you, InuYasha?" Kagome questioned without turning her face toward him.

"What do you mean?" he frowned as he stood up himself, not quite liking just how her query sounded. She took a moment, then looked up at him.

"Is it going to bother you?" She asked again as if he really did completely understand what she meant. "Will this all be a secret between us when we go back?"

She didn't expect the wicked smile that etched upon his face. 

"I don't think there's any use in hiding it. Besides, it's not going to be like they won't know anyway."

Not understanding as to why he would make such a statement, she asked, "Why's that?"

InuYasha didn't say anything right away, only brandished the same grin to her gaze. Kagome swore that he seemed a little bit smug on top of it. Smug? Cocky might fit better. Raising a hand up, he flicked his neck with one of his fingers.

The look of confusion crossed her face as she wondered what in the world he was trying to tell her. 

"Eh?"

When he did it again, her hand wondered up to her own throat, feeling the column for anything unusual. She didn't feel anything, but when his expression seemed to grow even more pleased, something dawned on her.

O_O!

"_YOU GAVE ME A HICKY?!_" 

He frowned a bit. "Hic - key?"

"A bruise made with the mouth upon the skin."

"Feh! And what if I did? You don't like the marks I put there?"

"M-Marks?" Her other hand went up to her throat as well, helping to cover both sides. 

Folding his arms across his chest, he looked away with a bit of indignation. If she was upset with those, he no doubt he would have been dead had he went ahead and really marked her!

"Just how many are there?"

He peered at her out the side of one eye. Instead of refusing her request, he held up a hand with the number of fingers matching the number of marks.

"_Three?_" She gasped. "_Three?_"

Well what in the world was she going to do about that now, she wondered staring at his offended profile? Then she remembered the look that he had given her when questioned about whether their developing relationship was a secret or not. He seemed to have been quite pleased with himself. 

"Oh, well," she shrugged, dropping her hands away. After all, why should she mind? "Are you sure, InuYasha?"

Gracing her with another side glance, he said, "Of course, I am. There's three..…"

In a softer voice, she cut him off. "I mean you.… about this -- between us… I was wondering…"

"Whether what I said is about Kikyo is true or not?" 

Dropping his arms to his side, he moved closer to stand in front of her. 

"Baka," He said softly, a smile softly curving his mouth. "I have no doubts or regrets in the choice I've made. There is only one person that has given my existence life. There is only one I think about," Leaning down he gave her a brief kiss. "and that's Kagome. The only one I want to…" The smile faded from his lips as he grew gravely silent, staring seriously into the depths of her rich brown eyes. "The only one I want… to be with… is Kagome. Ai shiteru, Kagome. I love you."

Searching his eyes that now glittered from the moon's light, she said, "InuYasha."

"What?"

"The person that I have in mind, the person that's in my heart, the one that I choose. His name… is InuYasha."

Doubts, worries, fear… They disappeared and there was only the relieved calmness of a person that had a great weight taken from them as an exquisite smile grew upon his face. 

"I love you too, InuYasha." she whispered only because her voice wouldn't speak louder than that. 

Their eyes remained locked, until he starting to bring his head back down toward her, and then hers slipped to his lips and she raised her face to his. Their lips touched and parted against the pressure of the other's, seeking the affectionate sweetness within. Arms found their way around the other to lock themselves together. It didn't take long for InuYasha to feel his body start to stir again, the heat quickly flooding over him. 

Unsure whether to press further or not, he finally stepped back after deepening the kiss a moment or two longer.

He looked at his mate-to-be with renewed emotion coming into his eyes. For now he would be satisfied with what he had been given already. There would definitely be another night that the two of them would be together, just under different circumstances than now. It was something he had to look forward to. 

All this… because he pulled her down. 

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* THE END *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

I hope that you weren't too disappointed by the time that you came to this point. Sorry about the abruptness here; I totally had imagined other things happening, which included Sango and Miroku and a bit different but too many things in life is in the way still right now. Perhaps in the future I'll be so inclined to revise it, but for now I wanted and needed to get this finished for you since it's been so long. Would appreciate reviews on how you felt about it…… just don't be mean.

Again I want to THANK ALL the people that have read and supported this story. I've appreciated the reviews that you've so kindly given me. ^_^

aishiteru_inu

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Inu: Gee, I'd have pulled her down a lot sooner if I knew it'd come to this.

O_O


End file.
